It is well known to mount various lights and other fixtures outdoors in order to provide illumination or other decorative effects to a landscape. Various devices for mounting such lights and fixtures have been proposed. Most of these proposed devices are of a fixed dimension and therefore limit the installation of the fixture to only one preselected height. Often, however, a landowner may desire light fixtures, for example, in various areas of the landscape. It may be desired, for example, to mount light fixtures along a path through a yard. In some sections along the path, such as turf areas, the landowner may desire a low mounted fixture to make the fixture less obvious during the daytime. In other sections, such as shrub areas, the landowner may desire a light fixture that is mounted at a height to provide illumination above the shrub tops. A need therefore exists for a device to allow mounting of fixtures at various heights, selectable by the user, in an outdoor setting. The device should be easy to install, provide a solid anchor to the ground, stable, durable, inexpensive, and easy to maintain. The fixture-mounting device should also provide an UL-listed junction box to enable separation of the wiring connections from proximity to the ground and thereby provide protection against ground moisture and insects.
A parent application to this Continuation-In-Part application, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/253,185, disclosed a modular fixture-mounting device for mounting fixtures and electrical devices at a variety of user-selected heights in an outdoors setting. The modular fixture-mounting device included top members, base members, and optional extenders, which were fitted together with adhesive to form the fixture-mounting device.
Although the modular mounting device adequately provided an apparatus and method for mounting electrical fixtures and electrical devices at a variety of user-selected heights in an outdoors setting, the joint areas between the various members proved less than ideal in resisting a bending moment such as that encountered when the modular mounting device was struck by a sideways force, such as a blow from a riding lawnmower.
What is therefore needed is a modular fixture-mounting device for outdoors use that enables mounting of electrical fixtures at various heights in a landscape setting and includes joint areas capable of withstanding a substantially increased bending moment. As in the parent application, the modular enclosure should also provide a secure junction box to isolate wiring from environmental hazards, provide the ability to be solidly anchored to the ground, provide easy access for underground cables to enter the device, and exhibit the characteristics of being stable, durable, inexpensive, easy to install, and easy to maintain.